Puppeteers
Note: The final count isn't in yet for the next story... if you haven't voted yet, please do so! It is a huge favor, so I don't have to pick the next story, and risk that it won't be liked at all... so if you like the idea, please put in your vote! If there is a tie (of the few votes I have right now, there is none, though it does look as though 'The Samurai Wives' is going be my next story... as of right this second... as I write this...), I will have a final poll between the stories in the epilogue. Whichever gains the most votes there, will be the new story.
Disclaimer: Please, Watsuki-sama! Don't sue me for this! I just enjoy your characters so much that I had to... borrow them... for a while... They're not... much worse for the wear... and I'm having fun... They're not mine, I say! Just don't sue me!
(((((((((())))))))))
'Heaven bend to take my hand and lead me through the fire. Be the long awaited answer to a long and painful fight. Truth be told, I tried my best... Though I've tried, I've fallen. I have sunk so low. I messed up... so don't come round here and tell me I told you so...We believe we can change ourselves, the past can be undone. But we carry on our backs the burdens time always reveals. In the lonely light of morning. In the wound that would not heal. It's the bitter taste of losing everything I've held so dear...'
-Sarah McLachlan 'Fallen'
(((((((((())))))))))
Chapter Fourteen- Falling
As I slid in and out of consciousness, Sanosuke carried me with the utmost care back to Kyoto. The pain all over my body seared into my brain.
I'm dying... I thought to myself. I'm dying... and I'll never even get to see Kaoru again...
Sanosuke shot me a quick glance. "You're not dead, Kenshin. You're okay... and you will see Kaoru again, you rurouni idiot."
"Did... I... say that... out loud?" I muttered, head cast down to the passing dirt.
"Yes." Aoshi spoke few words, but he was no longer trying to kill me. In fact... he had come to help me...
"Oh..." I murmured. "What else... did I... say out loud?"
Sano shifted, pulling me higher onto his shoulder. "Just a lot of senseless stuff..." He told me, keeping his eyes on the darkening path back to Kyoto.
"Oh..." I would have nodded, but moving in excess hurt so much. "Thank you... Sanosuke..."
He looked at me and sighed. "Kenshin... it's the least I can do..." Aoshi was silent, but he looked at me in an unspoken understanding of something I was feeling.
I sighed, feeling consciousness ebb away again. "How much... further...?" I whispered, feeling my blood growing thick and heavy on the surface of my wounds.
"Soon, Kenshin... soon." Sano told me soothingly.
I made a quiet sound of affirmation, closing my eyes. I blacked out again.
When I came to, the road leading to the Aoiya slid into focus. As my ears cleared out from their fuzzy state, I heard a loud commotion and felt the vibrations of Kaoru hitting Sano.
"Kenshin!" She cried, and I felt her arms take me from Sano. Her arm was cut, I noticed, and I tried to tell her that, but my voice was suddenly gone, replaced by the absolute bliss of lying in Kaoru's arms one... last... time...
Hiro stood nearby, arms crossed over his chest, with his eyes preoccupied, rather than truly watching us.
"Kaoru..." I whispered. "Kaoru..." It was all I could manage, my breathing uneven and that long slash down my back bleeding slowly. The deep wound from Shishio's sword was still bleeding as well, all over Kaoru, I noted. I was fading in pain, but even my blurry vision held her in my sight. Kaoru... Kaoru...Oh, Kaoru... My thoughts were stuck, repeating her name over and over as she existed, the very center of my being.
"You're hurt so badly..." She whispered, her hand touching the shoulder that had been bitten. The remaining part of one of the sleeves of my gi slid off my arm, hanging limply in the dirt, where I had not even realized that Kaoru had lowered me to.
"It's... not so bad..." I told her, realizing that we were breaking our promise barely a single day after making it. "Let me go..." I whispered to her, staring up at her softly.
Hiro turned his gaze on me, and I almost felt myself shiver. "Kaoru-chan... he needs to see a doctor..." It was only then that I spotted the bandages he wore on his body. He... was in the attack... What happened to him...? I thought, still unmoved by Kaoru.
((()))
I stared up at the ceiling, bandages tied around each wound. All but the ones on my heart... I thought, moving my hands up to my head, which still burned with a fever. I shivered and pulled my blanket closer around me. It was the dead of night, the day after I had returned from Shishio's lair, and I was alone... awake...
The world was too quiet.
A footstep outside my door was as soft as the ki of the person who had made it.
I turned my eyes to stare at Kaoru as she opened the shoji door. "Kaoru..." I stated quietly. Tenderly.
She padded softly to the futon after sliding the shoji shut behind her. "Kenshin... how are you feeling?" She pushed my damp bangs out of my face, letting her fingers linger on my forehead.
"You shouldn't be here." I whispered.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay."
I sighed, but lay still on the futon. Moving still hurt a bit, if I were to do so a great deal. "We still shouldn't be... here... together..."
She traced her finger over the scars on my cheek. "I know..." She sighed. "But why are there rules anyway, to say what we have to do, and what we can't do?"
"I don't know, Kaoru..."
She touched the hair that lay spilled over my pillow, twirling it in her fingers. "I do... it's because someone did it once... and someone with more authority didn't like it... So maybe the person who made these stupid rules wasn't right at all. What if that were true?"
"Kaoru... you're talking nonsense... you should be in bed."
She shrugged and lay down next to me. "There... I am."
"You know what I meant... this would be worth more than just a little guilt. This is dangerous." Regardless of what I was telling her, I knew that neither of us minded. I didn't mind her fingers in my hair, or the other hand clasping mine. I didn't mind her scent washing over me with the intoxicating feeling of our auras mixing.
"You're getting better?" She whispered into my ear.
I smiled faintly at the feeling of her breath on my ear. "I don't black out every few minutes when I am conscious, and I'm not in a coma anymore..." I tried so hard to steel my will into begging her to go, instead of making it impossible for both of us.
She smiled and traced a random pattern on the base of my neck. Her smile faded slowly. "Kenshin?"
"Hm?"
"I don't want you to go... even if it's wrong..."
I sighed. "I would stay with you... but you said it yourself. It would break my heart."
She shook her head. "Not like that... I don't really want to marry Hiro, even if it is my duty... even if it is what I agreed to do...But I can't help it... like a moth to the flame of a candle... I can't help it."
"I know."
She pushed herself up, propping her upper body up with her elbows, staring into my eyes.
I stared back.
She pushed herself up further, then leaned over and pressed her lips to mine.
My mind raced, the reality of what she was doing striking me hard. I was frozen completely for a moment, before pressing against hers ever so softly.
She pulled herself back, staring into my eyes. "But I'm going to do it Kenshin, aren't I? I don't like it at all... but I'm following these stupid, senseless rules..." She pushed herself up, and left the room, shutting the shoji with a light snap.
I turned back to the ceiling and sighed, raising a hand to my lips. "But Love's not very sensible either, Kaoru..." I whispered to the night, which, very suddenly, was filled with sound.
((()))
A temple.
A priest.
I almost wanted to laugh at the cruel irony of things, and how they were playing out.
A white kimono.
A loud sound of jingling bells that tore at my eardrums.
I was the epitome of absolute calm, kneeling in that damned temple.
A prayer.
It was a damned dream! It could be nothing else... It didn't feel real as I heard the priest speaking the ceremony.
But even as I kneeled there, I knew it was too late. Kaoru and I had lost to Life and her cynical little game of dolls. We had let her take control, and then we all fell down as she cut us loose to deal with the consequences of not acting on what we should have.
The small gathering of people watched as Hiro lifted the small cup of sake to his lips and drank his first sip.
Kaoru took the cup and lifted it to her own.
I closed my eyes. Like the fireflies... We waited too long... saw each other in that last instant of light... And now we're falling...I opened my eyes again to see Kaoru take her tiny sip.
And now... we've fallen into darkness...
(((((((((())))))))))
Note: It would be so terrible if I told you this was the last chapter... It would be very, very mean... so I'm not going to. In fact... this isn't. There's still another chapter, and the epilogue. I got the inspiration for the last part when I was walking back to the house from my aunt's house, and it was almost completely dark. I looked over into the trees and saw the fireflies blinking in the darkness and it was absolutely breathtaking. I decided to recap back to chapter five, with the whole discussion about fireflies and love... But if any of you know anything about fireflies, you know the one thing that does happen with them... their lights do go out... but... you'll find out next chapter. This would indeed be a good ending to the story... but I know that I would have cried if it were I reading it. I'm a sucker for good endings... but you'll see... Stick this out for one more chapter, please! I love you all for staying with me so long, and I pray you'll stick with me for one more chapter, and then for the epilogue... Please, please, please, don't abandon me now! I told you all many a time that this is a KK story, and it is. You just have to be a little patient... please...
::realizes that none of her normal torture devices are going to satisfy anybody after this chapter:: Um... I'm going to... have to be handing over the good weapons now, aren't I? ::starts handing out long, long knives:: I hope this is good... really hope... just... don't use them on me! Or you won't have another chapter! A last chapter! Which will be a good one! ::coughs:: Well... you all know where Hiro is... ::points to him, who is quietly muttering his last rites in a corner:: Please don't kill him... I still need him next chapter... and I think he's starting to grow on me... maybe I'll keep him as a muse...
Note: The final count isn't in yet for the next story... if you haven't voted yet, please do so! It is a huge favor, so I don't have to pick the next story, and risk that it won't be liked at all... so if you like the idea, please put in your vote! If there is a tie (of the few votes I have right now, there is none, though it does look as though 'The Samurai Wives' is going be my next story... as of right this second... as I write this...), I will have a final poll between the stories in the epilogue. Whichever gains the most votes there, will be the new story.
Disclaimer: Please, Watsuki-sama! Don't sue me for this! I just enjoy your characters so much that I had to... borrow them... for a while... They're not... much worse for the wear... and I'm having fun... They're not mine, I say! Just don't sue me!
(((((((((())))))))))
'Heaven bend to take my hand and lead me through the fire. Be the long awaited answer to a long and painful fight. Truth be told, I tried my best... Though I've tried, I've fallen. I have sunk so low. I messed up... so don't come round here and tell me I told you so...We believe we can change ourselves, the past can be undone. But we carry on our backs the burdens time always reveals. In the lonely light of morning. In the wound that would not heal. It's the bitter taste of losing everything I've held so dear...'
-Sarah McLachlan 'Fallen'
(((((((((())))))))))
Chapter Fourteen- Falling
As I slid in and out of consciousness, Sanosuke carried me with the utmost care back to Kyoto. The pain all over my body seared into my brain.
I'm dying... I thought to myself. I'm dying... and I'll never even get to see Kaoru again...
Sanosuke shot me a quick glance. "You're not dead, Kenshin. You're okay... and you will see Kaoru again, you rurouni idiot."
"Did... I... say that... out loud?" I muttered, head cast down to the passing dirt.
"Yes." Aoshi spoke few words, but he was no longer trying to kill me. In fact... he had come to help me...
"Oh..." I murmured. "What else... did I... say out loud?"
Sano shifted, pulling me higher onto his shoulder. "Just a lot of senseless stuff..." He told me, keeping his eyes on the darkening path back to Kyoto.
"Oh..." I would have nodded, but moving in excess hurt so much. "Thank you... Sanosuke..."
He looked at me and sighed. "Kenshin... it's the least I can do..." Aoshi was silent, but he looked at me in an unspoken understanding of something I was feeling.
I sighed, feeling consciousness ebb away again. "How much... further...?" I whispered, feeling my blood growing thick and heavy on the surface of my wounds.
"Soon, Kenshin... soon." Sano told me soothingly.
I made a quiet sound of affirmation, closing my eyes. I blacked out again.
When I came to, the road leading to the Aoiya slid into focus. As my ears cleared out from their fuzzy state, I heard a loud commotion and felt the vibrations of Kaoru hitting Sano.
"Kenshin!" She cried, and I felt her arms take me from Sano. Her arm was cut, I noticed, and I tried to tell her that, but my voice was suddenly gone, replaced by the absolute bliss of lying in Kaoru's arms one... last... time...
Hiro stood nearby, arms crossed over his chest, with his eyes preoccupied, rather than truly watching us.
"Kaoru..." I whispered. "Kaoru..." It was all I could manage, my breathing uneven and that long slash down my back bleeding slowly. The deep wound from Shishio's sword was still bleeding as well, all over Kaoru, I noted. I was fading in pain, but even my blurry vision held her in my sight. Kaoru... Kaoru...Oh, Kaoru... My thoughts were stuck, repeating her name over and over as she existed, the very center of my being.
"You're hurt so badly..." She whispered, her hand touching the shoulder that had been bitten. The remaining part of one of the sleeves of my gi slid off my arm, hanging limply in the dirt, where I had not even realized that Kaoru had lowered me to.
"It's... not so bad..." I told her, realizing that we were breaking our promise barely a single day after making it. "Let me go..." I whispered to her, staring up at her softly.
Hiro turned his gaze on me, and I almost felt myself shiver. "Kaoru-chan... he needs to see a doctor..." It was only then that I spotted the bandages he wore on his body. He... was in the attack... What happened to him...? I thought, still unmoved by Kaoru.
((()))
I stared up at the ceiling, bandages tied around each wound. All but the ones on my heart... I thought, moving my hands up to my head, which still burned with a fever. I shivered and pulled my blanket closer around me. It was the dead of night, the day after I had returned from Shishio's lair, and I was alone... awake...
The world was too quiet.
A footstep outside my door was as soft as the ki of the person who had made it.
I turned my eyes to stare at Kaoru as she opened the shoji door. "Kaoru..." I stated quietly. Tenderly.
She padded softly to the futon after sliding the shoji shut behind her. "Kenshin... how are you feeling?" She pushed my damp bangs out of my face, letting her fingers linger on my forehead.
"You shouldn't be here." I whispered.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay."
I sighed, but lay still on the futon. Moving still hurt a bit, if I were to do so a great deal. "We still shouldn't be... here... together..."
She traced her finger over the scars on my cheek. "I know..." She sighed. "But why are there rules anyway, to say what we have to do, and what we can't do?"
"I don't know, Kaoru..."
She touched the hair that lay spilled over my pillow, twirling it in her fingers. "I do... it's because someone did it once... and someone with more authority didn't like it... So maybe the person who made these stupid rules wasn't right at all. What if that were true?"
"Kaoru... you're talking nonsense... you should be in bed."
She shrugged and lay down next to me. "There... I am."
"You know what I meant... this would be worth more than just a little guilt. This is dangerous." Regardless of what I was telling her, I knew that neither of us minded. I didn't mind her fingers in my hair, or the other hand clasping mine. I didn't mind her scent washing over me with the intoxicating feeling of our auras mixing.
"You're getting better?" She whispered into my ear.
I smiled faintly at the feeling of her breath on my ear. "I don't black out every few minutes when I am conscious, and I'm not in a coma anymore..." I tried so hard to steel my will into begging her to go, instead of making it impossible for both of us.
She smiled and traced a random pattern on the base of my neck. Her smile faded slowly. "Kenshin?"
"Hm?"
"I don't want you to go... even if it's wrong..."
I sighed. "I would stay with you... but you said it yourself. It would break my heart."
She shook her head. "Not like that... I don't really want to marry Hiro, even if it is my duty... even if it is what I agreed to do...But I can't help it... like a moth to the flame of a candle... I can't help it."
"I know."
She pushed herself up, propping her upper body up with her elbows, staring into my eyes.
I stared back.
She pushed herself up further, then leaned over and pressed her lips to mine.
My mind raced, the reality of what she was doing striking me hard. I was frozen completely for a moment, before pressing against hers ever so softly.
She pulled herself back, staring into my eyes. "But I'm going to do it Kenshin, aren't I? I don't like it at all... but I'm following these stupid, senseless rules..." She pushed herself up, and left the room, shutting the shoji with a light snap.
I turned back to the ceiling and sighed, raising a hand to my lips. "But Love's not very sensible either, Kaoru..." I whispered to the night, which, very suddenly, was filled with sound.
((()))
A temple.
A priest.
I almost wanted to laugh at the cruel irony of things, and how they were playing out.
A white kimono.
A loud sound of jingling bells that tore at my eardrums.
I was the epitome of absolute calm, kneeling in that damned temple.
A prayer.
It was a damned dream! It could be nothing else... It didn't feel real as I heard the priest speaking the ceremony.
But even as I kneeled there, I knew it was too late. Kaoru and I had lost to Life and her cynical little game of dolls. We had let her take control, and then we all fell down as she cut us loose to deal with the consequences of not acting on what we should have.
The small gathering of people watched as Hiro lifted the small cup of sake to his lips and drank his first sip.
Kaoru took the cup and lifted it to her own.
I closed my eyes. Like the fireflies... We waited too long... saw each other in that last instant of light... And now we're falling...I opened my eyes again to see Kaoru take her tiny sip.
And now... we've fallen into darkness...
(((((((((())))))))))
Note: It would be so terrible if I told you this was the last chapter... It would be very, very mean... so I'm not going to. In fact... this isn't. There's still another chapter, and the epilogue. I got the inspiration for the last part when I was walking back to the house from my aunt's house, and it was almost completely dark. I looked over into the trees and saw the fireflies blinking in the darkness and it was absolutely breathtaking. I decided to recap back to chapter five, with the whole discussion about fireflies and love... But if any of you know anything about fireflies, you know the one thing that does happen with them... their lights do go out... but... you'll find out next chapter. This would indeed be a good ending to the story... but I know that I would have cried if it were I reading it. I'm a sucker for good endings... but you'll see... Stick this out for one more chapter, please! I love you all for staying with me so long, and I pray you'll stick with me for one more chapter, and then for the epilogue... Please, please, please, don't abandon me now! I told you all many a time that this is a KK story, and it is. You just have to be a little patient... please...
::realizes that none of her normal torture devices are going to satisfy anybody after this chapter:: Um... I'm going to... have to be handing over the good weapons now, aren't I? ::starts handing out long, long knives:: I hope this is good... really hope... just... don't use them on me! Or you won't have another chapter! A last chapter! Which will be a good one! ::coughs:: Well... you all know where Hiro is... ::points to him, who is quietly muttering his last rites in a corner:: Please don't kill him... I still need him next chapter... and I think he's starting to grow on me... maybe I'll keep him as a muse...